Point Counts

I was approached a few weeks ago about doing some bird counts to help monitor spring migration for songbirds in the Upper Snake River Valley. I agreed and did my first counts yesterday. The procedure is as follows: There are seven points (locations) near Mud Lake and for ten minutes I stand at each point and count the birds seen and heard. I'm to write down the species, the numbers of species detected, the distance from the point the bird was detected, and the habitat in which the bird was detected. Migration for songbirds is just getting underway so the diversity of species was low. Since this is the first time I've done point counts it's probably good to start before too many birds arrive. The most common migrant songbirds were Tree Swallows and Robins, followed by Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-crowned Sparrows, and Spotted Towhees. My friend Cliff and I will be doing ca. 2-3 counts per week through early June.



Point Count Sheets


Mud Lake Point #3 (of seven), Mud Lake, ID 2006